Mafume denies giving away Harare’s waste collection duties to Geo Pomona
By Caleb Chikwawawa
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has denied claims that he corruptly passed on rights to the city’s waste collection duties to Geo Pomona, the company at the centre of an opaque arrangement that was initiated by central government.
Mafume denied these allegations while giving a speech at the ISO Certificate handover ceremony in Harare on Thursday.
“So when we build a city and a council, we are not saying that the council will do each and every work that has to be done in the city.
“The work can be done on behalf of the residents by private companies, government companies and the municipality itself.
“The issue is we have to learn how to divide work among the various components that make up the city.
“So, when we say we are working with a private actor, and we have got a Memorandum of Understanding or Memorandum of Agreement, we have not given anything away.
“There is no way a person can give away Harare.
“Inongori pano. Nekupfupika kwandakaita ini ndoisenga ndoipa munhu anoendepi nayo? Muchangoiwana iripo.
“I don’t understand, vanhu vanoti kwahi guta rabiwa, ‘he has given a city away’. To who? Who can give away a city.
“Who has ever taken away a stadium.
“Who has ever taken away a building.
“So what is just happening is a public private partnership.
“That is what’s happening across cities dzese dzamunoyeva pamunoenda kwana Dubai nekuSouth Africa.
“They are private-public partnerships that are building the city because the private sector is faster and is more results oriented and it’s easier to ISO certify,” said Mafume.
There have been claims that the CCC councillor rubber-stamped the controversial deal despite the Harare City Council’s Environmental Management Committee rejecting the proposal.
Residents and councillors are worried about the deal’s transparency and potential for corruption, questioning if it benefits private interests over addressing Harare’s waste issues.
